


Right to Left

by eris_of_imladris



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28061448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eris_of_imladris/pseuds/eris_of_imladris
Summary: Sometimes, a wedding this long-awaited is overwhelming in the most amazing way. Inspired by “Morphogenetic Sorrow'' from the 999 OST and written for ZEcret Santa 2020! Spoiler warning for the entire Zero Escape trilogy.
Relationships: Kurashiki Akane/Tenmyouji Junpei
Kudos: 12
Collections: ZEcret Santa 2020





	Right to Left

**Author's Note:**

> When I saw the prompt to write a fic inspired by “Morphogenetic Sorrow,” my mind instantly went to the way the song was integral in the scene where Junpei saves young Akane, and then reappears when he proposes to her in ZTD. I have held this story in my heart for many years and am thrilled to write it now! Happy holidays and enjoy :)

There is a new pressure on Akane’s left ring finger.

A gentle hold, almost like a hug surrounding the skin. It was the same feeling she remembered from when Junpei slid the ring on her right ring finger in Dcom, when she had been shouting at him for leaving her to SHIFT away from a timeline where he died. The ring turned that day into such a jumble of emotions that she hadn’t been able to process it properly, not until they were out of the facility and she watched the diamond glint in the harsh Nevada sun.

It brought back memories of another time when she’d wanted a ring from him but didn’t live long enough, and another time when she’d worn the ring on the wrong finger for decades because she was trying too hard to save the world from a horrible fate that she had no time for love.

But this timeline features neither of those things. She is alive, young and free from every obligation on her shoulders, and all that remains is to make her own happiness. And yet, because there is no plan for this moment, no rehearsal until it feels like she’s done things a thousand times before, she wakes up with sudden nerves.

As she prepares, she resolves to find five things she can see, four she can feel, three she can hear, two she can smell, one she can taste. It came from some website either she or Aoi found back when they were preparing to act in the Second Nonary Game and had to stay calm. Her senses were the only thing keeping her alive, and honing them while keeping her calm was an efficient way to do what needed to be done. Not to mention, it wasn’t hard to wrap her head around using numbers, even if it was a different mechanic than what she was preparing for. Counting things like this could help make everything make sense.

It made sense now, too - it felt like ten million things had to go the right way for this day to happen, and considering the Nonary Games, Dcom, and hunting a terrorist fanatic, that number didn’t seem like that big of an exaggeration.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the whirlwind of outfit preparation was finally done and the doors to the room opened at last.

She sees Junpei first - his hair, finally organized; his outfit clean and crisp; just like she’d imagined him as her groom when she was the awkward girl in middle school who clung to him as her only close friend. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Aoi finally cracking a smile by her side as they start to walk. She hadn’t imagined a ceremony involving both walking down the aisle and drinking nine sips of sake from three separate cups (more numbers, she couldn’t help but giggle), but this hodgepodge feels like how their relationship came together. Everything stopped being simple and straightforward so many years ago that it felt like their wedding should be the same.

Three more things to see. Maria in a flouncy dress offering Gab a treat. Carlos, on the other side, swiping a pillow away from the old “ring dog.” The slight rustling of clothes as everyone settles into position, ready to get started.

She shuffles forward, feeling the silk of her mother’s kimono - the one that came inexplicably to her mind when she was on the floor by the submarine, imagining the life she wondered if she would get to have when everything was over. Back to the present, her shoes are pinching. Her hand is slightly cold as Aoi’s leaves and he retreats to the side.

The sound of Aoi’s footsteps as he withdraws catches her slightly off guard. She knows he’s never truly leaving - he’s the type to be in her life forever, especially considering - no. She needs to stay in the present, in the voice of the officiant who sounds like he needs a tissue but that would detract from the solemnity. Shoes, voice. She needs one more sound. It comes in the clink of the cups as Junpei bumps into the table, and she can’t stifle her smile.

Smell isn’t hard - the sake has smelled strong ever since she stood next to it, flowery but with a definite hint of alcohol. She’ll have to moderate that, she’s not used to alcohol like certain people named Junpei standing to her right and smelling like nervousness and corn flakes and Junpei.

The taste of the sake overwhelms her mind until the only thing she can think is, This is it. I’m marrying Junpei. Not in a dozen timelines from now, but right now. Right now.

After the ceremony, there is a new dress. Instead of silk against her skin, she feels the sudden heaviness of satin. All she can see is Junpei’s smile, and the happiness rattles around in her skull until she is almost delirious with it.

Her senses blend together when she makes her way out in pinchy shoes to hearty applause. Cake from Junpei’s fork fills her mouth, sweet and chocolatey and she suddenly has the energy to dance all night. Diana’s laugh as Sigma decides now is the time to sing along with the music blends with the voice of Akane and Junpei’s sixth-grade teacher, who she managed to track down, saying that it’s nice to see some of her old favorite students, especially after one of them left her school so long ago. Her diamond ring clacks against a glass when she takes a drink of something that smells spicy, and she almost spills it when she feels Gab stepping on her dress as he makes his way across the room, quickly followed by the clomping footsteps of whoever she assigned to keep track of him. Different strengths of hugs from Carlos, Diana, Aoi, are those really tears on his cheeks? She has no time to think about that when she feels the taste of Junpei’s lips against hers a thousand different times when he finds her making her way around the room. They leave when it’s too dark to see anything outside; she catches herself wishing the moon was bigger and lets out a laugh as she rests her hand against the door handle of a rather fancy car.

“There’s one more thing,” Akane says as they settle into the car, finally, blissfully alone except for the very professional driver. Unlike so much of their time together, this is the first time Akane gets to experience this moment. She doesn’t know what Junpei might find funny or sad or exhilarating. She can only hope he feels the same way she does as she rummages in her little white purse and pulls out a small voodoo doll.

“That’s it, then,” he says. Even without being inside his head, Akane knows that how he wrinkles his face a little means that he is unsure what she is thinking or wants from him.

“I know we didn’t do an entirely traditional ceremony, but I thought I’d bring something lucky for you.”

She almost burst out laughing when his facial expression looked like she’d just hit him with a frying pan. “Lucky?” he finally asks. “Isn’t this the doll you went back for when you were - ”

He still hasn’t figured out how to talk about it, but then again, he hasn’t had years of practice. She smiles. “The very same.” She runs her finger over the worn surface of the fabric. It’s been years since she needed it, but the fabric still feels like love.

“But how could something that made you go back there be lucky?”

“Because I had something to go back for,” she said. When he didn’t reply, she prepared for another one of her explanations which, thankfully, she didn’t have to rehearse. “You were the person who gave the most hope in my life. I went back for this doll because I dreamed that we would be able to have a moment like this one day, and even though things really didn’t go the way I expected - in the beginning, at least - I couldn’t be happier that we’re here together. Another one of my long stories short, this doll brought us back together, even though it made a lot of other things happen too. It was worth it.”

“But…”

Akane smiles. It’s finally over. She is finally in her happy ending, and the past can take a back seat. “It was worth it,” she repeats as their hands meet over the old, worn fabric. The ring on her left ring finger glints in the moonlight as they finally head home.


End file.
